Reply #27: When I was a child in Pennsylvania Dutch country, it was saurkraut, pork chops, and mashed potatoes. [View All]

In the south, where I have lived for decades, it is hog jowls, blackeyed peas, and collard greens (sometimes mustard greens are substituted).

Saurkraut and collard greens are supposed to stand for money or prosperity for the coming year.

But my family won't eat collard greens, mustard greens, or saurkraut. :(

So I substitute baby spinach for collard greens and hide it in my own version of Hoppin' John (Ham, blackeyed peas, rice, tomatoes, green peppers, onions, and other ingredients that come to hand.

Today, we will have hog jowl bacon (first time I've seen that here), Hoppin' John, baked potatoes cut up and rebaked with onions and butter, and saurkraut. I've told my family that it is their PATRIOTIC DUTY as citizens of Earth to have at least ONE bite of the saurkraut to help insure that our personal, our national, and our global economy grows more healthy, stronger, and wealthier.

(For the uninitiated who think that saurkraut is inedible: Take a small forkful of saurkraut and add an equal amount of potatoes -- mashed or otherwise -- and eat... Not so sour at all.)

(on edit: moved a portion of a sentence from where it should not have been to where it belonged.)